Cheap SATA 6Gbps controller

[andrewbedia]

Not your typical question. I'm looking for a plain 1 or 2 port SATA 3 / 6Gbps controller. Doesn't need to be SAS. Want it for putting a SATA3 SSD into an older machine.

Any recommendations?

$30 or less would be pretty nice.

 

[Navy_BOFH]

Depends on what you're doing... if you just want a SATA controller for an OS or pass-through, any one will work that you can find on Newegg... most are based on a Marvell controller which I've had no issues with.

Now... if you're going to use it in ESXI for VM Datastore - you'll have issues since most aren't on their approved list... and any of the Marvell 91xx model controllers have an issue with showing drives even with a .vib file installed in ESXI.

But in the end, I can say they're pretty solid. I am using a Sonnet Tempo SSD adapter (mounts and powers 2 SSDs in a single card) and after a re-flash of the firmware it's been solid... but I am using Hyper-V. ESXI would show the controller but not the drives - so I was out of luck there. However, it would have still worked as a pass-through to a VM if I wanted to.

 

[andrewbedia]

Just regular Windows. Nothing fancy.

What about performance? A lot of these are on X1 ports. Is it in the ~500MB/s range?

 

[andrewbedia]

What about something like this?
Amazon.com: IO Crest 2 Port SATA III PCI-Express x1 Card (SY-PEX40039): Electronics

 

[Mike]

It's not like the difference between Sata2 and 3 for random workloads is that noticable. I would go as far as saying that it is not worth 30 bucks and if it is, take two smaller ssds and stripe them and you have your 600mb target.

 

[RTM]

It is my understanding that some of the older Marvell SATA 3 chips are terrible, to the extent that the SATA controller from Intels ICH10 southbridge beats them on many factors (besides raw bandwidth of course), there are multiple threads on the internet about this.
I believe the 9120/9125/9128 is the one you want to avoid.

 

[andrewbedia]

@RTM can you recommend specific chips?

or link to stuff on amazon/ebay/newegg

 

[RTM]

@RTM can you recommend specific chips?

or link to stuff on amazon/ebay/newegg

I am sorry, but all I know is that you should avoid that specific series of Marvell chips.
It is quite old, it was frequently used on x58 based motherboards thus the reference to the ICH10R southbridge performance.

 

[andrewbedia]

With enough patience, I solved this problem differently.
81Y4494 IBM ServeRAID H1110 SAS SATA Controller FRU 81Y4492 | eBay

For $38, I can't really complain. Plus, it's tiny. Seriously, look at that thing.

 

[PigLover]

Cute little card. I've not noticed these before and for $38 its a rockin' deal. LSI2004 based, so basically a 9211-4i in a teenee-weenee little package.

Nice find for a small server.

 

[andrewbedia]

I know, right? It's going to be so cute :3 I should give it a name.